Young Scots get best cost-of-living package in the UK
by As the new academic year approaches, young people living in Scotland are benefiting from the most comprehensive cost-of-living safety net anywhere in the UK – leaving their peers south of the border navigating a financial obstacle course under the Labour Westminster government.
New figures published today highlight a stark divide between the support provided by the SNP Scottish Government and the escalating costs facing students in England.
While Scottish students enjoy free university tuition, free bus travel for under-22s, and direct weekly support, young people in England are being asked to squeeze water from a stone. South of the border, university tuition fees are set to rise for the second time under the Labour government elected in 2024, climbing to a record £9,790 a year this September – a bitter pill to swallow given the previous high-profile pledge by Andy Burnham to scrap tuition fees altogether.
It should also not be forgotten that it was Labour who first introduced tuition fees despite saying they had no plans to do so.
The financial divergence begins long before students even set foot on a university campus. In Scotland, the SNP has protected the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), providing a crucial £30-a-week grant to eligible 16-to-19-year-olds from low-income backgrounds who stay in school or further education.
In 2024/25 alone, 21,240 Scottish students benefited from this lifeline, pocketing up to £1,140 a year to help keep their education on track.
In contrast, England’s young people are feeling the chill of a financial ice age.
Ever since the Westminster government scrapped the EMA, English students have been left out in the cold. House of Commons Library analysis reveals that students in England lost out on an estimated £775 million in EMA support this year alone due to Labour’s refusal to reinstate the scheme.
Cumulatively, the difference in approach is staggering:
In Scotland: The SNP Scottish Government has invested £317 million directly into the pockets of 398,320 students since 2010/11.
In England: Young people have lost out on an astronomical £8 billion in cumulative EMA support over the same period.
The savings do not end in the classroom. Thanks to the SNP’s commitment to fully funded higher education, Scottish graduates enter the workforce without the crushing financial anchor dragging down their peers in England. On average, a young person graduating in Scotland starts their career with around £35,000 less debt than a student down south.
Add to that the SNP’s nationwide free bus travel for under-22s – saving young Scots over £1,000 a year compared to English commuters who are forced to watch their bus fares climb like a runaway elevator – and the cost-of-living contrast couldn’t be clearer.
SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson Lara Bird MP has called on the Labour government to stop treating young people’s budgets like a piggy bank to be raided and instead mirror Scotland’s policies.
Reinstating the EMA in England would cost the UK government between £850 million and £900 million.
Doing so would not only restore vital support to English students but would also generate between £85 million and £90 million in Barnett consequentials for Scotland. That additional funding could be immediately recycled by the Scottish Government into further anti-poverty measures and family support.
While the Scottish Government continues to build a protective shield around its young people using the limited levers of devolution, the widening gap between Holyrood and Westminster highlights a fundamental choice of priorities.
With the full powers of independence, Scotland could go even further and build a fairer, more prosperous country where every young person is given the wind in their sails to succeed.